


Life in a Dime Store Novel

by blithers



Category: Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-18
Updated: 2010-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-13 18:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/140285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blithers/pseuds/blithers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life with Brisco doesn't always turn out how Dixie thinks it will.  Except somehow, in the end, it does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life in a Dime Store Novel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/gifts).



_One._

Socrates waves his way over to them, weaving through the crowd at the Horseshoe Club with an excited grin on his face.

"Brisco!" He inclines his hat to her. "Ms. Dixie."

Brisco claps him on the shoulder. "What's up, Soc?"

"I have a job for you." Socrates is pushing his glasses up and beaming.

"Yeah? Where?"

"Nevada. There's been a string of bank robberies that the," he lowers his voice dramatically, "government would like you to look into. And Lord Bowler too, if he's interested in the bounty."

"How much?"

He lowers his voice even more. "Five thousand dollars," he whispers proudly.

Brisco nods, then casts a glance at her and hesitates. "Can you excuse us, Soc? I'd like to talk to Dixie for a minute."

Socrates looks at her. "Certainly. I'll just... go get myself a drink, shall I?" He points at the other end of the bar. "Let me know when you're done."

Brisco watches him go, then leans into her. "This work for you, Dix?"

"Well, a man's got to earn a living, same as us girls." She pats her curls, and Brisco raises an eyebrow.

"Of course I'll miss you," she says, dropping the act. "What do you want me to say?"

"I missed you while you were in China, Dix. A lot. In fact, I can't say I'm not happy there hasn't been much work recently." He takes a breath. "Come with me?"

"What?"

"Come with me."

She smiles at him, slowly. "Really?"

"Yeah." He grins at her.

She sticks out her hand, and he shakes it, and she fights the urge to laugh. "You've got a deal, Mr. County."

 

 _Two._

The mayor pulls a gun on them.

"Aah," says Brisco, the soup spoon paused on the way to his mouth.

Dixie starts to inch her fingers toward her purse, where a small revolver is tucked into the lining. "Robert," she laughs. "You do know how to keep a dinner party lively."

"If you try anything, Ms. Cousins, the guard by the door has orders to shoot you, pretty face or not."

Her fingers stop.

Brisco shakes his head. "I wish you'd waited until after dessert. I was really looking forward to the cake." He hits the underside of the table hard, and flips the surface up towards Mayor Castello. Dixie makes a grab for her purse, pulls the gun out, and whirls around to aim it at the guard.

She steps to the side, keeping the gun trained on the man, and puts her back to a nearby wall. Brisco pulls the mayor up by his shirt, but Robert, with surprising strength, launches a punch at Brisco. Brisco lets go of the mayor and reels backwards, tripping over the upended table.

"Brisco!" She pulls the gun around to aim it at Mayor Castello, but he is in motion and jumps out the window, throwing an arm up to protect his face from the glass. She runs to Brisco.

"Are you OK?"

Blood is streaming from his nose, and he starts to search, blind, in a pocket for his handkerchief. "I think that man broke my damn nose."

Dixie looks around. The guard is gone, but she knows the quiet won't last long. She closes the door to the hallway and locks it, and then pushes the fallen table in front of the frame.

"Back here." She drags him over to sit beneath a tall serving table up against the wall in the corner facing the door, and ducks under the table with him. "Now, let me see."

He groans but moves the handkerchief away, and she prods his nose gingerly.

"I don't think it's broken," she says at last, doubtfully.

He brings the handkerchief back his nose, but his breathing is calmer and she can tell the shock is already wearing off. She brushes his hair back over his ears, gently. He watches her, and smiles suddenly.

"Thanks, Dix."

She shrugs. "You always know how to show a girl a good time, Brisco."

He shifts to his side, and uses his free hand to pull a small wad of cloth from his back pocket. "Dix," he says seriously, from behind his bloodied handkerchief, "I've been carryin' this around for the last couple months now, waiting for the right moment, but maybe there isn't one. Or maybe this is it." He unfolds the edges of the cloth and pulls out a small gold ring, set with a solitaire diamond.

"Myra Simmons, will you marry me?"

She launches herself at him, and he kisses her back for a moment before her nose crashes into his.

"Oow! Dixie!" She pulls back. He's breathless with pain and maybe laughter. "Is that a yes?"

"Like I could ever say no to you," she says, and kisses him again, more gently this time.

And that's when the guards break the door down.

 

 _Three._

"Brisco," she says calmly, "Why is Comet here?"

Brisco reaches out to pat Comet's nose, and the horse nudges at his palm. "He's the ring bearer, Dix. Didn't I tell you?"

"I... must have missed the memo."

He reaches over and covers Comet's ears, which are pricked forward intently. "I couldn't say no to him, Dix," he whispers. "It would have broken his heart."

Comet looks at her and nickers gently. She pulls a particularly tempting-looking flower from her bouquet and feeds it to Comet, who bites down with a satisfying crunch on the stem.

"I don't want any funny business," she says sternly to Comet.

Comet paws the ground twice.

Brisco clears his throat. "He says he'll be a credit to the institution of marriage."

"I thought two hooves was no."

"You also need to watch the tail. And the ears. Sometimes the head movements too."

She kisses Brisco shortly, and pushes him out of the door. "OK, you two, _out_. It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. Out, out!"

He grins at her before disappearing, and touches her briefly on the cheek. "You look amazing, Dix."

During the wedding processional, Comet does a stutter step coming down the aisle. Bowler, looking awkwardly majestic in a rented tuxedo, leans his head toward Brisco. "How'd you teach him that one?"

"It was Comet's idea," Brisco says, fondly.

When the preacher pronounces them man and wife, Comet rears up, pawing at the ceiling wildly, and scares the organist, who has to be recovered from the small rectory in the back of the church before the service can end.

 

 _Four._

"The baby's coming!" Her voice rises in panic, and she puts a hand on the rather stupendous belly she's sporting these days. " _Brisco_!"

Brisco pops his head around the door. He has a purple bonnet tied around his chin and is reloading his father's gun without watching his fingers. "Hold on, Dix. We'll be out of here soon, I promise, if I have to kill every last Swill brother myself."

She grunts. "I might be a patient lady, Brisco, but this baby..."

Bowler dives in from the opposite door, wrapped in a springy yellow sundress and wearing a dark scowl. "Brisco, Will is sneakin' around the back. I sent Whip out after him."

"I thought Will was out front?"

"Hell, Brisco, I can't keep 'em straight." There's a yell from the back door and Bowler somehow manages to increase the intensity of his scowl. "I am gonna _kill_ that boy."

"No time. Dixie's fixin' to have the baby, Bowler. We've got to get her out of here."

Bowler makes a move like he wants to take his hat off his head, but encounters only a matching yellow bonnet. "Mrs. County," he says, and sweeps her a bow. Dixie grits her teeth as another labor pang sweeps through her.

"I... don't... care. Get me _out_ of here."

Brisco looks at Bowler. "Surrender flag?"

"They're too stupid. Tell them we have a letter from their mom saying they need to be somewhere else?"

Bowler frowns. "It's so dumb, it just might work. I'll get Whip."

"What'd you need me for?" Whip is wearing one of Dixie's old outfits, pre-pregnancy, with a blonde wig and hips that flare out and a sporty little vest over a white shirt.

"We're gonna try to bluff our way out of here." Brisco starts opening drawers, searching for pen and paper. "You don't think the Swills can read, do you Bowler?"

"Sure as hell hope not."

"We're writing a letter? Who came up with a dumb idea like that?"

"Who came up with a dumb idea like _this_?" Bowler sweeps a hand angrily down his yellow gingham outfit.

Whip holds up his hands. "It got us in here, didn't it?"

"Yeah, and that's the problem."

"Gentlemen!" Brisco holds up a piece of stationary and a bitten down stub of a pencil. "I'd appreciate a little less fighting right now, and a little more action." He puts the tip of the pencil to the paper and taps it twice, thoughtfully. "My dear boys..."

Dixie stands up with some effort, marches over to the door, and pulls it open. "Dix, what are you-"

"I'm having a baby! Right now!" she yells, and the gunfire stops abruptly. "Let me the _hell out of here_!"

A head pops up from behind a barrel, and Phil Swill regards her curiously.

She glares at him, and he scratches behind his ear. "Well why didn't you say so earlier?"

 

 _Five._

She puts the baby to sleep, humming gently as she tidies up the room. Brisco is cleaning his father's gun on the table by the fire, squinting into the barrel and pulling a bristled brush through the metal cylinder, occasionally rubbing at a spot only he can see with a rag. The air smells like oil and baby powder, and Dixie feels drowsy and content to lazily drag her fingers along the mantle of their fireplace.

She comes up to stand behind Brisco, dropping her chin on top of his head and hugging his shoulders.

"I love you," she says.

He puts a hand on her forearm and says, quietly, "I love you too."


End file.
